Miami Hurricanes starting quarterback Darian Mensah spoke to the media after the Hurricanes 43-35 double overtime victory over the Florida State Seminoles. Check out everything he had to say down below:
On his thoughts of the rivalry: Unbelievable. Credit to Florida State. They're a great team, well coached. We knew they were going to come out hot, and we just had to handle that. I think it just shows, the resiliency of our team.
On Malachi Toney performance: Yeah, he played awesome. He kept himself in it. Offensively, we had some drives that kind of sputtered, especially in the first half, and he did a good job on the sideline, staying positive. So credit to him for that.
On Malachi Toney throw on the two point conversation: Yeah, I knew it was going to be good. It was a great call from Coach Dawson. I mean, the kid is special, so credit to him.
On what changed late in the second half after starting slow: Yeah, I went over to my O-line and I told them, like, we weren't going to lose this game, and I told them that they had to take the game over, and I think they did that. We had a couple runs that kind of sparked our juice offensively, and I think our offense overall was the reason why we went down there on offense in the second half and got some points on the board.
On what got his confidence back after a slow start: Yeah, I think that bye weeks kind of are dangerous, especially against a good team like Florida State. And so we knew that, like I said earlier, they were going to come out fast, and we just had to handle that. And yeah, there's definitely some stuff that I've got to be better at, and so we're telling on the tape and focus on that next week.
On what he has learned with this team: Well, really, Coach said in the locker room that, we really think that we're the only team that can beat us. I think we had some penalties that hurt us, and I think that if we clean those up, then we'd be in much better shape. But also just we're extremely resilient as a team.
On Javian Mallory: Yeah, kind of his breakout game. And the kid has done an excellent job this week, but always, he's done an awesome job with his preparation, and I've got a lot of trust in the young freshman. So his role will only continue to grow, but, I think he's got a bright future ahead.
On finding a way to win: Yeah, I think that's what just great teams do, is just finding a way to win. If all things aren't going your way and you can still find a way to win like that in that fashion, I think it shows, the guts of your team, and I think we've got that.
On his message to the team in the second half: Yeah, like I said earlier, I went up to the line and I said we're not going to lose this game. I had a lot of confidence in my guys, my teammates. We really think that we're the only team that can beat us. We had some plays where we just weren't executing simple stuff, and I think routine plays win you games. And so we had to just get back to that in the second half, and I think we did that.
On his thoughts of the rivalry: Unbelievable. Credit to Florida State. They're a great team, well coached. We knew they were going to come out hot, and we just had to handle that. I think it just shows, the resiliency of our team.
On Malachi Toney performance: Yeah, he played awesome. He kept himself in it. Offensively, we had some drives that kind of sputtered, especially in the first half, and he did a good job on the sideline, staying positive. So credit to him for that.
On Malachi Toney throw on the two point conversation: Yeah, I knew it was going to be good. It was a great call from Coach Dawson. I mean, the kid is special, so credit to him.
On what changed late in the second half after starting slow: Yeah, I went over to my O-line and I told them, like, we weren't going to lose this game, and I told them that they had to take the game over, and I think they did that. We had a couple runs that kind of sparked our juice offensively, and I think our offense overall was the reason why we went down there on offense in the second half and got some points on the board.
On what got his confidence back after a slow start: Yeah, I think that bye weeks kind of are dangerous, especially against a good team like Florida State. And so we knew that, like I said earlier, they were going to come out fast, and we just had to handle that. And yeah, there's definitely some stuff that I've got to be better at, and so we're telling on the tape and focus on that next week.
On what he has learned with this team: Well, really, Coach said in the locker room that, we really think that we're the only team that can beat us. I think we had some penalties that hurt us, and I think that if we clean those up, then we'd be in much better shape. But also just we're extremely resilient as a team.
On Javian Mallory: Yeah, kind of his breakout game. And the kid has done an excellent job this week, but always, he's done an awesome job with his preparation, and I've got a lot of trust in the young freshman. So his role will only continue to grow, but, I think he's got a bright future ahead.
On finding a way to win: Yeah, I think that's what just great teams do, is just finding a way to win. If all things aren't going your way and you can still find a way to win like that in that fashion, I think it shows, the guts of your team, and I think we've got that.
On his message to the team in the second half: Yeah, like I said earlier, I went up to the line and I said we're not going to lose this game. I had a lot of confidence in my guys, my teammates. We really think that we're the only team that can beat us. We had some plays where we just weren't executing simple stuff, and I think routine plays win you games. And so we had to just get back to that in the second half, and I think we did that.
